Virus
by morph
Summary: Spark Word Fic. 2 Erek's thoughts in book 29, The Sickness, when Cassie is off saving Aftran. My first Animorphs fic!


AN/ Behold! The second fic in my Spark Words series. This one is about Erek, the android friend of the Animorphs. This is his thoughts during the time that Cassie is off saving Aftran 942 while everyone else was sick in book number 29, "The Sickness." If you'll remember, in that book, Ax got sick and Erek had to guard him in Cassie's barn.  
  
This is my first Animorphs fic. K.A. Applegate owns the Animorphs. I just own a copy of the entire series, that's all. ( Jason Rekulak owns "The Writer's Block" book where I got the Spark Word 'Virus' from. Reviews are always appreciated! (  
  
~~~  
  
My name is Erek, or at least that's what my friends, the Animorphs, call me. But right now most of my friends were sick, and one of them who was still well, Cassie, was on an impossible mission to save a Yeerk who knew everything about us. My job now was to hide and monitor my friend who was the sickest, Ax. I had to hide him because he is an Andalite, an alien on this planet.  
  
I suppose what Ax had was similar to the human condition of appendicitis. There was a gland in his head that was swelling and if it burst, he would die. He currently had a fever. As soon as his temperature went back to normal, the gland had to come out.  
  
The worse bit was if Ax hit crisis before Cassie returned, there was nothing I could do to save him. I had to keep him secret, and I did not know how to operate to save him.  
  
I was at no risk of catching the virus that had spread from Ax to the others. What my other friends had was just like a bad case of the flu, but it put them out of action. As an android, a Chee, I haven't been sick a single day of my long, long life.  
  
I suppose you could say that I was sick with worry, though. Ax was fading fast. He was very sweaty and weak. I decided to take his temperature again. It was 91.6 degrees. I frowned. This was not good. His normal temperature was 91.3 degrees. Cassie would have to hurry.  
  
I thought back to the past. Back to the Middle Ages when disease and viruses would usually kill you before you reached the age of forty-five. I 'died' three times in just thirty years back then just to avoid suspicion. If everyone else in the town I was living in got sick, then I had to get sick too, or at least pretend to. My hologram would project an image of my body catching the virus and dieing. Then I would project another image of a different body and so forth.  
  
In those dark times there was nothing I could do to help the people when they got sick. At least now I could do a little something to help Ax, even if it was just hiding him.  
  
Suddenly, Ax began to wobble. His four slender legs became unsteady. I caught him just as he began to fall and I carefully lay him on his side.  
  
"Ax?" I said. "Ax, can you hear me?" No reaction. He was unconscious. Quickly, I took his temperature. 91.4 degrees. He was way too close to crisis for comfort. Ax's breathing became strained and ragged.  
  
"Hold on, Ax," I said, even though I knew her couldn't hear me. "Cassie will be back soon. Just hold on a little longer."  
  
It was almost a false hope. Even thought I had faith that Cassie would make it back in time to save Ax's life, my head still swarmed with what ifs.  
  
What if Cassie caught the virus and got sick before she got back?  
  
What if she couldn't save Aftran, the Yeerk who knew everything about us?  
  
What if Cassie got caught by the Yeerks and made into a Controller?  
  
What if Ax died?  
  
I started pacing up and down inside the stall where Ax lay hidden by my hologram.  
  
"I hate diseases," I thought. "I hate sickness. I hate viruses!"  
  
A few more minutes passed, then I took Ax's temperature again. It was 91.3 degrees. Ax was in crisis and Cassie wasn't back yet. I felt almost like crying, if I could cry that is. I was going to loose a friend right here, right now. What was I going to say to the others?  
  
Just as I thought this, I heard something outside. It was a flutter of wings and something that landed on a bale of hay. Then I heard the unmistakable sounds of someone demorphing. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Cassie had made it!  
  
She ran over to the stall and gasped when she opened the door and stepped through the hologram. She saw Ax laying on his side and breathing hard. She had a Yeerk, Aftran, in her hands.  
  
"He's in crisis," I tolled her. 


End file.
